Hanstark thought for a moment. Strategy--he must use strategy ... "Mr.
Nest." He waited until Nest had turned to him. "Mr. Nest. What would you
say if I told you that there was no pass down there?"
"Why shucks, pardner. I'd say you'd been chewin' some loco weed."
"And if I could prove it?"
Nest answered after a moment's pause. "Why then, I guess _I'd_ be loco."
Hanstark thought it was going to be easy. "Mr. Nest, it is a well known
fact that no one can walk in mid-air. Is that not true?"
Nest took a deep drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke out of his
nostrils. "Shore."
"Then if I were to walk out above your pass you'd have to admit there is
no pass."
"Reckon so."
Hanstark began to walk in the direction of Nest's "cliff." Nest jumped
to his feet and grabbed the official psychiatrist by the arm.
"What're you tryin' to do," Nest said angrily, "kill yourself?"
Hanstark shook free of his grasp. "Mr. Nest, I am not going to kill
myself. I am merely going to walk in that direction." He pointed to
where the cliff was supposed to be. "To you it will look as if I were
walking in mid-air."
Nest dropped his hands to his sides. "Shucks, I don't care if you kill
yourself. It's just that it's liable to make the cattle nervous."
Hanstark gave him a cold glare and began to walk. He took three paces
and stopped. "You see, Mr. Nest. There is no cliff."
Nest looked at him and laughed. "You just take one more step and you'll
find there _is_ a cliff!"
Hanstark took another step--a long one. His face bore a surprised look
as he disappeared beneath the grass. His screams could be heard for a
moment before he landed on the rocks below.
Nest walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the mangled
body. He took off his hat in respect. "Little feller had a lotta guts."
Then he added, "Poor little feller."
He put his hat back on and looked down at the entrance to the valley. A
horse and rider appeared from behind several rocks.
"Dirty Dan!" Nest exclaimed. He reached down and picked up his rifle.
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Fantastic Universe_ January 1954.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
typographical errors have been corrected without note.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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